Inland form of Pied Butcherbird?

["Mules, Michael" <>]

Hi Laurie, all,

I've just had a look in Schodde & Mason (leaving aside its "officialness"), and they place the central Australian form of the Pied Butcherbird together with the top-end and West Australian birds as one sub-species, Cracticus nigrogularis picatus, which is separate from the eastern form, C.n.nigrogularis. 

C.n.picatus is distinguished from the eastern form in Schodde & Mason by a "broad and immaculate white collar and rump, the collar extending well down onto mantle, and narrow black back..." (their italics)

Females are defined as having a "variably broad dull white collar and rump, and rather narrow black back".

C.n.nigrogularis has a narrow-moderately broad white collar (dull in both sexes), and a broad black back.

Maybe someone who is familiar with both the West Australian and eastern forms could comment?

Hope this helps,  cheers,

Michael

Michael Mules
Curator, Science Program
Museum Victoria
Melbourne Museum, Carlton

Ph: 8341 7426

----------
From:   Laurence Living[SMTP:
Sent:   Wednesday, 11 October 2000 5:21 PM
To:     Chris Coleborn; birding
Subject:        Re: [BIRDING-AUS] Inland form of Pied Butcherbird?

During a trip to the Great Victoria Desert via the centre in July we saw a number of pied butcherbirds with bright and extensive white backs as you describe. This variation had us rechecking the bird to verify our identification.

  

Laurie Living

Chris Coleborn wrote:

G'day all,  Has anyone noticed that the Pied Butcherbirds around the Alice and Ayers Rock have much more extensive white on the back than they do further south? An inland form of the Pied Butcherbird?

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